Editorial: Japanese Players Raid US Economy at CEO & ReveLAtions

Editorial: Japanese Players Raid US Economy at CEO & ReveLAtions
by on June 13th, 2011 at 4:02 pm

Diago holding your money

As if the U.S. recession wasn’t bad enough, Japanese champions Daigo, Mago, and Tokido came and took a mammoth-sized bite out of hefty prize money that was up for grabs at the CEO and ReveLAtions, winning three out of the four big tournament games that weekend. Thanks to the magic of internet streaming, I had the pleasure of watching the US get owned simultaneously on both coasts. See that money in Daigo’s hands? That’s your money! Daigo took your money.

And the cherry on top had to be seeing old-man Viscant win the ReveLAtions Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament. I love you Viscant, but come on people, this guy is a fossil. Players under the age of 30, I’m calling you out. Get hungry and step up your game. It’s a tournament. Your job is to out-practice and out-perform the current generation of players. Let the stream monsters make kissy-faces at Daigo, Mike Ross, and Justin. For you, these guys are the enemy. Beat them. Win the tournament. Take their money.

We need a little more Wolfkrone in this new generation. Dude had already made top 8 at ReveLAtions, but lost a nail-biter to Mago and was eliminated. Good shit, right? Not to Krone. Dude stood up and walked right of the hallway. Looked like he was going to go jump off a bridge. Wolfkrone is used to winning, and anything less than winning is unacceptable.

So yeah, I’m pretty dissatisfied after this weekend. Part of what has made fighting games so special over the last 24 years has been the intense no-holds-barred competition and rivalries it’s bred. I know this makes me sound like a crotchety old man, but in my days you literally had to pay to play the game. When you beat someone, you made him pay to play you again.  And again, and again.  Pretty soon the guy had to go for more change, and that’s when you knew he was your bitch.  These days top players are getting bigger and bigger payouts, but our overall competitive drive has waned.  Today it’s too easy to beg for a patch, or just say the game is ass.  If you don’t like the game, don’t play it.  But if you are going to play it, play to win.

I’m waiting to see who out there is going to step it up and challenge the status quo.  Is it you?

  • UltraDavid

    hi5x10

    • The Lone Dragon

      I don’t know, man.

      I’m ALL for competetive spirit…that’s what this genre is all about.

      But, these dudes shouldn’t have to wave money in our face to get players motivated. We should simply WANT to be the best by default, not because of financial incentive.

      Daigo has said over and over in interviews…it’s not the money…it’s not the winning…it’s not the beef, or the trolling, or bragging rights…

      It a desire to be the best at what he does. That’s why he wins. To be honest, Idon’t think Mago or Tokido are fundamentally motivated by money, either.

      As lame as it sounds (and this WILL sound lame), it’s a very Ryu-esque mentality. Someone externally motivated will never beat someone internally motivated.

      Sure, money is a great incentive, and I don’t think Daigo will throw that wad out after the photograph is taken…but I think the entire basis of this article is part of the problem.

      Money can’t buy an undying desire for self improvement.

      • Necrophile

        >>>As lame as it sounds (and this WILL sound lame), it’s a very >>Ryu-esque mentality. Someone externally motivated will never >>beat someone internally motivated.

        lol except balrog > ryu

        its all about the fight money

        • threeRd

          I LOLed hard at this.

        • HaHussle

          It might not be about the money but it sure doesnt hurt either

      • thec0re3

        It would be so Ryu if he did throw the money away though….and just walk off into the sunset with his joystick..that be god like…yeah

        • Nexis

          …and mental >_>

    • Dark0rb

      I’m not sure I quite understand the logic of this article. What exactly is differnet in the current scene than, say, 5 years ago? Is there any conclusive evidence that the average age of competitors has increased? Experience is highly valuable. I’m not sure why the author of the article is shocked that it’s giving the older guys a leg up, even assuming the average age has increased.

      • xeikai

        I think what he’s trying to say is that people are driven by the wrong things now a days with the blooming glamor of fighting games in the spotlight. While some of them do care about being the best, some care a bit more about getting paied, or being famous.

        When i lose it bugs me, and i will rematch as long as the guy will rematch me till i figure out a way to win, even if i get beat pretty badly. And i think he’s trying to say that’s missing from younger competitors who wanna complain about a match up, or say this character is too strong, or my character is too weak, we need a patch.

        Back in the arcade days you took what you got and you rolled with the punches. If you lost it wasn’t cause the game lagged. or the the match up wasn’t in your favor or balance issues. You were the issue and if you wanted to stay on the machine and not pay anymore, you better figure out how to fix it and fast.

        I used to only go with 1 dollar to the arcades around my house when i was in Highschool, and one credit would last me 6 hours cause i was just that much better back then than all the comp in the area. I used to scout out people watch them play, look for the high win streaks and challenge them to kick them off their machine. That kinda fierce competitive attitude is waning now a days.

        It’s about just

    • RindoukanKarateMan

      ULTRADAVID ACE ATTORNEY PETITION CAPCOM AND MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

  • Joe The Condor

    America: LAND OF THE FRAY

    • RindoukanKarateMan

      You mean land of the free right? LOL

  • PSPness

    He’s got a point there. Gotta step our game up! I’m gettin to that old age too. I’m 21. Haha

  • Zclyh3

    I’m just happy to add that I was the one that captured Wolfkrone walking out with my camera work. LMAO.

    • Necrophile

      haha saltcam ftw

    • dayday

      That was a great shot, he just wanted to get out of there. He didn’t want any congrats, no conversation. He played great though, just when he got in the corner, he got took.

  • Solgrim

    Good. fucking. shit.

  • ChibiMana

    Its all about the Yenjamin’s, baby!

  • TheDarkPhoenix

    Couldn’t have said it better ink.

    *Grumpy old man voice off*

  • Kurushii

    Racks On Racks On Racks

    • .Cobra

      You sir, win. -clap-

      But I agree, and that’s how Wolfkrone is if he doesn’t win first period. He isn’t happy with himself and he asks himself “why did I lose that match”, etc. Not even 5 minutes after a loss, go talk to him, and he’ll be able to tell you in explicit detail WHY and WHERE in the match he lost.

      That’s what players nowadays need to do. They need to be more hungry to win, and on top of that, instead of just getting upset at your loss, learn from it and come back stronger. In turn, your opponent (if/when you rematch) will have to step his/her game up, and there you go: Evolution and leveling up. That’s how champions are made.

      • The Hebrew Hammer

        That’s how winnin’ is done.

  • SuperFX

    this is the best thing i’ve read about the current scene in a while.

  • FunkQue

    Yeah, we need to stop crying and man up.

  • aggro crag

    Wolfkrone is easily one of my favorite players to watch. He’ll comeback at EVO for sure.

  • Renegade

    Hey, us old guys still got talent!

  • bipolar_shango

    “Pretty soon the guy had to go for more change, and that’s when you knew he was your bitch” LOL So true! Preach brother..Preach..

  • justiceg

    Good grief, another one of these “rally the troops” posts. Give it a rest there son.

    • Ghostal

      If someone dug into your pockets and fished out all the money you had, I’m sure you wouldn’t be terribly thrilled. God forbid people take something seriously on a site founded for a competitive playerbase.

      • Cryoh

        Don’t worry about justiceg, he plays MvC3 on simple mode. Here’s the link to prove it. – http://shoryuken.com/forum/threads/simple-mode-warriors-unite-looking-for-tips-and-teams.134132/unread

        • PurpleLemonadeGGPO

          lmao owned

        • TerraZero

          WOW…

        • 4Biddin

          What a fucking loser! LMAO everytime I see this guy post im puttin that link in the reply!

          • justiceg

            LOL, this is awesome. That is crazy awesome guys, I am glad to see my style of play in MVC3 has pissed off a couple more teenage boys who apparently take the elitism of competitive fighting games really seriously. Link that post to me all you like, I’m pretty proud of it myself.

          • justiceg

            Thought I’d also add I think it is rad that that post pissed people off so much they now want to follow me from post to post pointing out how I beast on people with Simple Mode all the time. You guys keep riding my jock this bad, I’m going to have to start charging a fee…

          • Tokairu
          • justiceg

            @Tokiaru I’m not sure whether you are trying to say that I am trolling or that *you* are trolling, but I legitimately am cool with playing Simple Mode. If people want to ride me for that, that’s their prerogative. Sorry it doesn’t bother me as much as you’d hope. =)

  • PapaRhino

    Best article I’ve read on here in ages. <3 Inkblot

  • PropLeXed

    Dat money.

  • skulltr0n

    canada take notes

    • Tik-Tok

      Yeah, we would… except Canadian players beat Japanese players when they step on our turf.

  • lifefire940

    Wolfkrone is a hero to my generation of players who just got into the scene of competitive fighting. That man has heart and plays like he wants to win. The 09′ers are the future, we need to step it up

    • TrollThisSRK

      I find it pretty fitting that the hero to the new generation of players uses entirely unsafe random EX seismo like a massive crutch.

  • Vastago

    Hi inkblot, can you please stop bitching???

    Its always the same shit ” in my days blah blah blah… We were real men… Blah blah blah…”

    Bad news dude we are in 2011 were games get patched, arcades are DEAD and japanese players are still better than us.

    • tempbast

      This guy gives up before the fight starts. He’d break his friend’s legs for a hundred bucks. He’s worse than scum. No one wants to hear your cowardly reasoning.

  • Brooklyn

    this pussification of the US started the day schools banned dodgeball..

  • TheRetroKid

    i for one welcome the arrival of our new overlords and masters…

  • Windsagio

    yeah, the problem is totally that young kids are spoiled.

    It’s not at all that the modern generation of games are largely and specifically designed to ape mechanics and flow of the old games that people have been practicing for years.

    Actually it kind of is, whups.

  • eatmysaq

    I agree. The rivalry keeps things interesting and it pushes America and other non Japanese regions to step up there game. I’m sure we will have a new champion this EVO, but after this weekend, we have some work to do. How old is Viscant? Cause he looks no older than like 24. Idk

    • dantemustdie

      He’s 31, give or take.

  • 10 Stars

    Oh my god, this post is so amazing. inkblot i think i love you.

  • Raven

    Viscant is old? But I’m about the same age as him… That would mean… I’m. Old. Too. Noooooooooo!

    • Kei_

      don’t give in to the machine! WE…ARE…NOT…OLD! They’re just jealous cuz 31 is the new 20….wait, I thought that was 30. Am I starting to forget things already?!? f*ck!!!

      Kei <— a very young 31 yrs old

  • xvynx

    go daigo!!!

  • YanDaMan

    Why isn’t Sako who won all those money matches up there with them showing the bling? It doesnt feel complete without the 5th Japanese who took USA money this weekend, lawl.

  • Dandy J

    good

  • El_Cor

    I make money in other ways. Such as having a job and a life. I would love to spend the rest of my life playing video games, and maybe that will happen when I have secured funds to be a world traveling competitive gamer, but for the time being, got a career to do.

  • CaliPower

    This is what us OG’s have been trying to teach you kids from the get-go.

    Here’s an early WNF clip when we started in a garage from my conversation with Mike Watson about today’s fighting game scene:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xt-_4TYmyw

    • ruff0123

      Yo, stop dick eating yourself.

      • ANewChallenger

        Oh man, Ruff0123! I heard about you from when you won that… I mean, that match you had with…

        …

        Fucking nobody calling out Valle. Kids these days, indeed.

      • tataki

        The new generation of SF4 players, ladies and gentlemen.

      • cliffeside

        show some fuckin respect tool. -_-

      • Aquashark

        ban this mental midget. jeez

      • Jhericurl

        Valle is a legend, and has done more for the FGC than most people who are still active today. the man knows what he is talking about. no one else on this site would dare repeat what ruff0123 said, or at least, i hope not.

    • G77

      For me, that speach summed up all that is wrong in this world.

      As soon as you start using terminology where “hatred” is the only way to be successful in sport, you lost all credibility in my eyes.

      IMHO,

      It takes MORE effort to be nice to someone when you’re seething inside from a loss.
      It takes MORE effort to GG and shake hands, be polite and bite your tongue when beaten by a cocky loud mouth.

      Confusing a lack of desire to be good at a computer game with a general change in life focus (we are in a recession, we are losing human lives in Afghanistan, terrorism is rife etc etc) and then blaming it on a lack of hatred for your opposition….

      I’m a very competitive person. I hate losing. But the day someone tells me to hate my opponent more, during a profanity filled speech is the day that I decide EVEN MORE that I never want ot be like that.

      I have far more respect for someone who is at the top of their game but still manges to act like a decent human being without swearing and hating (which is harder than succumbing to base human traits like anger and hatred), than someone who fuels their competitive desire with the downfall and hatred of their opponent.

      Peace,

      G.

      • AlgeKevin

        Completely agree with this post.

      • Logia

        Probably the best thing I’ve ever read of this site. Kudos, man.

      • Sizar_92

        Truth sir, you speak it. Not to say that each can’t have his own way to become a pro, but I definitely don’t think any hate is needed to become one. You just need a competitive spirit and good self-reflection.

      • thejohnsonrock

        dude. ruff0123′s post wasn’t worth replying to IMO, but yours is. i hear what your saying and it takes balls to put that out there. but what a lot of people aren’t seeing when they get distracted by profanity, anti-gay putdowns, and racial slurs is the what’s underneath. you think alex valle would harass a player IRL for being gay? i don’t know him but i don’t think so. you think people on the east coast that drop the N-Bomb hate blacks for real? or is it just part of the language and the scene?

        i used to get caught up in all that and feel hurt, especially after playing my hardest and winning. but that’s day one language people use to get in your head at tourneys and in the arcade. if you get distracted by that stuff or you really got a problem with it, you can ask them to stop with conviction. decent people will cut it out. i was lucky enough to find some friends that looked out for me since i was too nice and too empathetic. but either way, these are the players you’re gonna have to face. if you don’t thicken your skin and learn to see past all the garbage and psychobabble, you’ll miss out on things you need to learn to improve and you’ll miss out on some good friends that could be educated on how to treat others. stiffening up and drawing a line in the sand doesn’t always do that though. ask that to any black man who succeeded in corporate America. sometimes you just gotta show people you’re the best instead of waiting for them to respect you back. peoples language change all across the board when they see that you’re good.

        and for real socially we all judge others when we don’t really know them. some are just more vocal about it. but what Alex said rings through that video–he became friends with some of his worst rivals through mutual respect earned from fighting. hate makes you resourceful. pride makes you want to put out your best game. giving someone too much respect can break you before the match even starts. you can handhold and posse up to complain or you can get mad and put that person back on you’re level and figure out what you need to do to win next game. if you make someone a god in you’re mind, then what hope do you have to beat them but ask for a patch? that’s what Valle was saying in that video. that’s what Watson was saying to, once we get past all the words designed to ruffle people’s feathers.

  • White Ren

    just accept it americans are never going to be as good as the japanese their superior xd lmao

  • whodatninja

    first of all how old is viscant? doesn’t look that old to me…

    secondly, he’s awesome! his dvd w/ mike ross and gootecks is one of the ways to get these youngins to get better. way to go viscant, but the best was tokido taking mvc3 from jwong. waiting for the runback at evo!

  • Good Game Player

    i’d argue competitive drive has waned BECAUSE of the bigger payouts. there’s a wealth of psychological evidence showing that remuneration for performing a task results in less motivation for being as good as possible, rather than “good enough”. for the majority of tournaments (i.e. ones with no japanese presence), “good enough” is all it takes.

    then factor in that being a popular player has rewards which being the best player doesn’t. popularity means sponsorships, endorsements and one-offs which are a more reliable source of income than placing in tournaments. look at someone like Juicebox who hasn’t done shit in terms of placing in majors but is sponsored because he does funny things on streams. but even justin wong has until this point refused to use phoenix because he doesn’t want to be seen as cheap. and originally used rufus in sf4, a character that doesn’t really fit his style, because he wanted to entertain rather than win. it’s fucking pathetic honestly. i don’t know what the solution is, hopefully japan bodies the usa in mvc3 at evo and that will be a wakeup call. everyone already expects to lose to them in sf4 so nobody really cares about it.

    • Fivec

      Juicebox is ranked 11th overall right now in EVO seeding points, ranking higher than players such as Marn, Filipino Champ, Sanford Kelly, FlashMetroid, Mike Ross, ClakeyD, Floe, etc. That’s not nothing.

  • Kaos Lyon

    From another “fossil”, fuck you. 30 is not old. You’ll know it when you hit it, child.

    • Good Game Player

      inkblot is over 30 himself you huge dumbass

      • inkblot

        Too true. 30 came and went for me a while ago.

      • Kaos Lyon

        Then he should know better fuckwit.

        • MechZZ

          awww old dude is mad =[

        • tempbast

          It’s not about the OGs, you decaying dino-shit. It’s about the majority of younger generations being bitches for not taking the reigns.

  • Good Game Player

    and yeah it is different from back in the day, or even immediately just before sf4 came out, which really demonstrates that it’s the money which has made people less competitive. people used to really care about beating japan. now it’s whatever.

  • mr. tibbs

    yo, inkblot: how did you do at the tournaments?

    This is silly, though. It’s okay to take losing well. Daigo does, doesn’t he? Why is it commendable to sulk around in the hallway after you lose a game? Don’t get me wrong, I get plenty salty, but I don’t romanticize it. Instead, I’m embarrassed by it. Because it’s fucking silly. Even if the winner gets money, and you lost, so you don’t, moping around like a child is not commendable. Honor the person who beat you by staying classy.

    • tempbast

      I’ve seen Daigo lose. The expression on his face is that he wants to commit seppuku for his dishonorable loss.

  • TrueWu

    OMG this picture is kind of upsetting lol

  • SuicidalGrandpa

    We have stepped our game up, didn’t look nearly as free this time round as we did last evo or prior. Still, long way to go.

    • Good Game Player

      uh, at ceo arturo got swept 3 games to nothing and at revelations there wasn’t even an american in grand finals. how is that better than last evo.

      • Ghostal

        Because Mago was a single hit from being eliminated from the tournament before Top 4 by Wolfkrone after losing to an ALASKAN PAD VIPER PLAYER and Daigo had a closer match against ClakeyD, who bested Sako in an Ibuki mirror, than he did against Mago?

        • TrollThisSRK

          He was from Alaska but native to Korea. Thats a very important detail.

      • Fivec

        Arturo didn’t get swept in grand finals.

  • D-Proto

    This picture gets me salty

  • GalzPanic

    We need a dramatic reading of this post on youtube.

  • Sledge

    People care more about twitter and youtube sorry

  • PurpleLemonadeGGPO

    “Wolfkrone is used to winning, and anything less than winning is unacceptable.”

    I honestly think how streams have salty cams weakens this idea. It frames being salty at loss as more of a joke to laugh at.

    • PurpleLemonadeGGPO

      Anyway, the weakness of this article is something that it already acknowledges. Stream monsters will continue to be stupid and out of touch with what’s actually happening at tournaments. Aspiring Wolfkrone-like players already know that they need to step it up. No one is going to convert.

  • Josh-TheFunkDOC

    I’ve been saying this for a while now, good shit Ink! The anime FG community is way worse for this, but it’s definitely a problem even in the more established games.

    The real issue in the scene right now is that being the best isn’t where the money is; it’s in becoming an internet celebrity and making appearances on G4 and reality shows and documentaries. There’s a reason Justin moved to CA, and it wasn’t to step up his game…it’s also the same reason guys like Momochi and RF and Inoue aren’t sponsored while Juicebox is.

    I think the only way to truly bring back old-school competitiveness will be to make the prize pools big enough to outweigh all the side stuff, and I’m not sure how feasible that really is now or in the forseeable future.

    • BurningVigor

      Oh god don’t even mention the anime FG community on srk. It’s worse than the Guilty Gear days in that respect and much worse than srk community now.

    • Dipstick

      I don’t think it’s comparable — nobody is becoming an Internet celebrity and making appearances on cable TV because they’re good at BlazBlue or Arcana Heart or whatever other donjon-engine game you want to pick.

      Secondly, in those smaller communities you aren’t going to find anyone who is playing for the sake of playing other people — those types are all playing the bigger games. They just enjoy playing the game for whatever reason, even if their motives run completely counter to a competitive environment.

  • ITguy

    If we’re going to play, play to win people. That means everyone Take Phoenix to the lab NOW for MvC and Yun, Yang or Fei for SSF4AE. GO NOW!

    Also lol at commending a guy for running off and pouting in a hallway. You want the fighting game community to have no class apparently.

  • Flip2k

    That past that Ink is talking about where you had to pay to play still exists in Japan. Us younger Americans didn’t really have that culture to grow up in. Most of the best fighters came from that arcade culture, can’t really blame us <30 year olds for not having skills that Japanese players have a much easier access to.

  • haunts

    im glad usa got lit up, makes EVO far more interesting.

  • TrollThisSRK

    Inkblot needs to be given Keits job ASAP. For the good of us all. Sense of humor AND common sense? Sadly this makes you a gem here.

    “Pretty soon the guy had to go for more change, and that’s when you knew he was your bitch.”

    YES

    • Good Game Player

      i’m sure ink could give himself keits’ job if he wanted to, given he made the side and all

    • Aquashark

      he’s the founder of SRK, he doesn’t need to be given anything.. hurr durr

  • Vorkosigan

    Too bad that If you actually start showing emotion and caring about how you do in tournies, you get laughed at and insulted by the community. People aren’t allowed to get salty or upset or talk trash, because the FGC is supposed to be “growing up” and being “professional”.

    We’re all supposed to be a bunch of fucking Daigo clones now, golf clapping and being all honorable and quiet. It’s ridiculous.

    I may not have been around for the Golden Age, but I’m smart enough to see that the way things are going now doesn’t work. Something needs to change.

    • G77

      The army of mild mannered friendly Asians holding money would suggest that the “non hatred” approach is perfectly viable.

      Peace,

      G.

  • Son_Dula

    Today it’s too easy to beg for a patch, ill drink to tht

  • akumous

    I realized this article was designed to antagonized the American gamers but for the record they didn’t took the money, they “earned it.”

    • akumous

      However, the one redeeming factor of this article, is the stopped crying and begging for patch segment when one is having problems beating a specific character. On the other hand, if there is a glitch that renders the game unplayable then I am strong advocate for a patch but one can’t figure a character out and cries for patch is utter bullshit.

  • render

    FWIW, the JP player all the way on the right is Satoshi, not Tokido.

  • CrackPr0n

    I was never good enough to be one of the best but I competed. I would analyze my matches, break down games, and most importantly learn everything I could about how a game worked and why everything flows the way it does. I remembersitting in the in n out parking lot talking to maj about the tournamentthat just passed discussing everything for like 2 hours.

    There’s plenty of people now that have a drive to improve that showed up out of nowhere. New people like andyocr, tatsu, jayce, who put in the effort and time to improve and compete(and in tatsu’s case troll). Everyone else just whines and bitches about game mechanics or cheapness, that they would win if the opponent didn’t turtle. Instead of improving, they blame something. Fuck it, let the pot monsters be pot monsters, there is a new generation of players that are surpassing the old gem. Fuck the kids that don’t have the mental capability to compete.

  • Necrophile

    lol quality editorial someone give this man a pulitzer prize

  • Maverick8

    Not that I care all that much but to get FG players and outsiders to take this more seriously the community has to have an attitude change. The premier leader of fighting game news is SRK and the premier leader in news and information should not have a front page story about how you made someone your bitch. Language and professionalism are SO SO important in presentation. The stereotype that gamers playing competitively are losers, jobless, living at home, virgins, and living in the clouds can’t die down in America without a bit more professionalism. Exposure is key too but getting exposure can’t happen if you are presentable. This is why I prefer the commentary of James Chen and UltraDavid. It’s clean and informative but still excitable. Yipes has a knack for good commentary too but he gets a little wordy also. Just my two cents though and I know it’s a little off topic but I believe if the scene got a little more presentable (without getting uptight) the generation of gamers would feel like it was more worth their time to step it up.

    • Maverick8

      aren’t presentable*

    • Gasaraki

      This is SO true.

    • Necrophile

      lol dude are u serious???

      this article was meant to motivate and entertain

      i bet you’re one of those people who clap whenever a stream monster is PERMABANNED from level up stream for typing in caps

      maverick8 said: “Language and professionalism are SO SO important in presentation.”

      i agree 100% that’s why dana white is a role model for little kids everywhere

    • inkblot

      You don’t care that much so you probably won’t read this reply, but I made a targeted use of profanity to emphasis a point. I don’t disagree with your general sentiment, but if you’re saying all profanity is verboten, then IMO you’ve crossed over the line into the uptight zone.

      • Necrophile

        Hi man. Since we are on the uptight subject, is it possible to get people unbanned from Level Up stream in time for Evo World?

        Their mods are a LOT more UPTIGHT than Spooky or Haunts.

        Permaban for 1 comment that was not sexist, racist or a personal insult? From reading the Spooky CEO chat there were a lot of stream monsters in this situation.

        In any case, the Evo Seeding tourneys were a great idea and thanks for protecting the integrity of the FGC by issuing a yellow card.

    • Travis Epic

      Bro you serious? I know there needs to have tactful approach to things but at the same time there are reasons to have some animosity. When a coach of a football team gives a pep talk, do you really think he spares peoples feelings? No… he doesn’t and that’s what I feel Ink was trying to get across. He wasn’t trying to give you an update in information or a news article. He was giving all of us a much needed pep talk that a real coach would give.

      Remember kids they put sodium chloride in Gatorade cause you need a bit of salt in ya.

    • xStingy

      Not that I care all that much but to get FG players and outsiders to take this more seriously the community has to have an attitude change.

      ^^^^^ I agree with this 100%. Not the rest. o.O

    • Maverick8

      I do care enough to come back and check this actually. I’d say I doubt anyone else will but I just proved that sentiment wrong I guess haha. It isn’t just the profanity and that was hardly the main focus of this comment. It’s the attitude in general. If you want to be taken seriously AS A COMMUNITY (not an individual, individuals can respect far differently than entire bodies of people) the attitude has to be matured to an extent. Am I saying that all professional/competitive fields are mature? No. Football fans are obnoxious for example but there is a stark difference between them and gamers. SRK is like the ESPN of Fighting Games. Sure on sports related site there isn’t ESPN there may be different language usage but the main stream source is professionalized. The coach of a football team is an absolutely horrible analogy as the coach of a football team is privately addressing his players. This is the main stream for fighting games not the locker room of a football game. Inkblot made a good, sensible entry. The profanity was just a knit pick of mine, my general sentiment was what was most important. I

      • Maverick8

        I made so many grammatical errors in this comment I should be banned from SRK :[ I am sorry, I was the one not professional this time! Haha.

  • ryan.

    only good article ive ever read on srk.

  • Lazir

    Daigo shouldn’t even be up there because he has an unfair disadvantage. For him being Japanese has nothing to do with it because he’s actually a mutant. Daigo’s power is telepathy. He loses a round or two because he can only commit 10% of his energy to playing while he commits the other 90% to download your mind. Then he uses this to play paranormal mind games. He’s also copied his close friend Sako’s power to boost his execution.

  • Gasaraki

    “See that money in Daigo’s hands? That’s your money! Daigo took your money.”

    This is something I will never understand about America, and I fucking live here. What the hell is up with this sense of entitlement? It’s his money because he fucking beat everyone and won the tournament, a tournament everyone entered BY CHOICE knowing they could end up not getting any of their money back. Daigo didn’t take anything without proving he’s better.

    Also why the HELL are tournament entires like fucking $40 nowadays?! how the hell do you expect people who don’t make the kind of money to just throw away $50 to even enter in the first place?! When I actually WAS in the tourney scene that shit was only $5, $10 at most maybe. Heck as the author said, the economy is already bad as it is, and then people ask for $40 or more for entry fees?!

    In the vid Valle linked, he talks about making a commitment. Gotta choose between competition and other things in your life. That is certainly true, but if you’re going to commit to fighting games, guess what, you’re not going to have money to spare on practically anything outside of basic living until you are THE BEST, and that’s all there is to it.

    • akumous

      Great points Sir, I agreed with you on all fronts. However, it is shocking that they priced the tournament fees so high. I understand they aspirations to be as big as SCII but anything over 40 bucks is a little too high.

  • sprflyspdrguy

    Doesnt make much sense to trash the up and coming fighters. Wolfkrone is good, yes, but the elite that are in top 8 and always have been are the same group of guys that have been for the past 5+ years. Daigo, tokido, mago, mike ross, wong, all those guys are in the same age range so who could you fault newer player for not having the experience to hang? There will be other great new player like Krone, but for now Krone is in a league by himself. Nothing wrong with that.

  • JRXP2010

    Setting up for Japan raping EVO2011.. Get it together guys!!!

  • Kapwan13

    I think this weekend just gave the U.S. players the swift kick in the ass we’ve been needing. People need to quit bitching about patches, accept things as they are and practice. Top Players become that through hard work, dedication and a little bit of talent. LeBron James is proof that practice and dedication is whats needed to be the best not just raw skill. The U.S. sure as hell had our Miami Heat moment in Marvel at CEO.

    Its time for everyone of all skill levels to get in the lab and polish up for Evo because simply getting first place all the time at your local version of WNF is not enough to measure up against the world.

  • WeAimToPlease

    So not even one joke about how Daigo is rocking that man purse?
    Guess your standard wallet isn’t big enough to carry all of that cash he accumulated over the weekend.

    • Raven

      Stacks of paper need custom transportation.

      • MrSoada

        ahahahahahaaaha

  • ironboy89

    Probably nobody is going to this but… Daigo confirmed to play in MVC3
    http://iplaywinner.com/news/2011/6/13/daigo-the-beast-umehara-confirmed-for-ssf4-ae-mvc3-at-ncr9.html
    Shit just got real in this bitch!

  • Cillranchelllo

    I detect mad salt in this post.

  • AceKillah

    they are asian…………..we just can’t compete lol

  • Clawww

    Viscant on blast??

  • Zeromurasame

    Honestly I can’t say I blame them….They aren’t too hung up on how other countries handle themselves and they aren’t sitting on their ass talking garbage about how “X game is OUR game and Y country can’t touch us!!!” They do their homework, practice hard, and they got rewarded for their hard work at our expense. I know this has been said before in this whole article thing. But as players we need to stop harping on each other and down talking ourselves. We’d rather say how much we suck and how much better Japan and Europe are than us instead of practice to ensure that Japan and Europe aren’t better than us. Instead of trying to destroy each other, how about we just, you know, do our homework and practice? You know that age old, archaic concept that seemed to have been left at the arcades?

  • King9999

    That pic is gonna haunt US players all the way to Evo.

  • Clawww

    For real, though…

    1. SRK could use more articles like this. Whether you disagree, or find some (or all) points contentious, this piece is well-written, actually tries to drive home a point, and open up some debate.

    2. On professionalism in the community: not that necessary. A certain level of decency should definitely be maintained, but I feel like I hear too much crying and whining about professionalism or classiness or presentability. The fact is, people are always gonna get hype and say inciteful things and stream monsters are always gonna be stream monsters and say awful, stupid things, regardless of whether or not the top players look like butt or carry themselves professionally.

    3. Where and how should new players actually develop their skills? It’s clear that the Japanse players and American OGs all benefited greatly from playing in arcades, but that’s not quite viable for majority of the community these days. Tournaments are obviously good for breeding competition, but it’s expensive if you’re trying to get your game up: you’re basically paying $20 to get bodied with very little chance of making top 3. Personally, I seem to be seeing countless tournaments pop up, but fewer efforts at building up more scenes for casuals.

    • triplexraider

      I highly agree with number 3. You can attend a lot of tourneys and lose like 90% of them. There needs to be more incentives to build up more scenes with casuals, seriously.

      Not everyone lives next to a pro.

    • Hulk

      That #3 attitude is exactly why people today suck.
      More casuals? Afraid of getting bodied and losing $20? WTF.

      Back in the arcade days, every match was a money match so you had to play serious. Paying $20 to enter a tournament was money well spent, because you get more experience going out in the second round than spending $50 in regular arcade.

      All this casuals attitude and free online gaming shit is reducing the value of each match, and making players suckier in general.

      People ragequit and block good players because their win-loss record is more important than leaning new stuff. If everybody had to play 25¢ for every online match they had, and every DC counted as a loss the community would be a lot better.

      • Clawww

        25 cents is nothing compared to $20. There’s definitely more at stake at a tournament, and you’ll want to figure out what you did wrong if you just lost a bunch of money, but if you get straight-up bodied, it makes no difference how much you’ve paid.

        I agree with you that online has affected people’s attitudes, but casuals in person are way different. How can you honestly argue that freely playing a solid group of players on a regular basis isn’t going to improve your game?

  • boogityboy

    In my day we had to walk to the arcade 20 miles uphill in the snow in bare feet because we had to use our socks to carry our quarters (and to defend against bear attacks)

    Kids today… with their X-stations, 320 playboxes, and angrycat sticks. Our patches went on our pant knees not on our games and joysticks took two hands to do a dragon punch with.

    AND WE LIKED IT.

    • Jourdal

      I lol’d, hard

  • Rey Aries

    I’m not even from the US, but watching both streams seriously put me in a bad mood. Seeing Tokido dominate just put a bad taste in my mouth. It seriously made me wanna step my game up.

  • BentoBox

    If not for the financial incentive, why else would anybody dedicate all their time to playing SF competitively? Sure, it’s a great feeling to be a part of such a great community. And James Chen did make a point about the middle man being just as important to the community as the top dogs. But when you realize that you probably bought a console and a stick for the game, and that every few weeks you drop a few more pesos that’ll most likely be found in the same guy’s pockets at the end of the session/tourney; you start asking yourself if you should be taking this more seriously than you already were or if the entire ordeal simply isn’t worthwhile. If you conclude the latter, then you get to stick around and still bitch about the game :) .

  • winter_blitz

    I watched the rev tourney live and I seen a lot of errors and misreads coming from the players that lost. The guys that won had execution and experience etc. and had less errors. From my experience I can tell the guys that lost havent played the ssf4ae as long as the guys that won. IMO 6 months ahead of the release of the game is all you need to be at the top. Thats no execuse for losing. Kudos to the winnera

  • Running Wild

    Let’s see Japan try to win Mortal Kombat.

  • Sketchspace

    I’m gonna take a radical approach — online killed the competitiveness of the game.

    Sure, I’m not going to argue that online allows you to provide a variety of players to give you more wisdom about the game. But here’s the deal — back when there was an online, your competition was significantly smaller than today. If you dominated the local area, you started to wonder if you were better than other playgroups. Hence, the motivation of going out to a tournament.

    Nowadays, if you’re doing pretty badly online (especially with the “ranking” system), why in the hell would you drop hundreds on a plane/food/gas/etc. to play against more experienced players who constantly play against other good players? It’s a poor business investment in my opinion.

    Trying to rile up the fanbase by fanning out money and talking about the old days is not going to motivate players. What I think will motivate players is forgetting about Daigo, Viscant, and all the big other players and letting the less recognized players duke it out and get recognized. As it is now, I think the David vs Goliath analogy with Goliath greatly in favor is horribly misused.

  • Taiganost

    As much as I appreciate competitive spirit and bettering yourself, some of the comments here are ridiculous… you people realize this is a video game, right?

    And I felt old for being 20, turns out we have a lot of fossils here… lol.

    Don’t mind me, I’m happy with my 30% win rate online with my Abel. It’s supposed to be about fun.

    • Thancruz

      No offense to you but I hate that “its just a video game” line in any shape,form or fashion. If people find enjoyment in what they do or want to achieve then why throw that up in someone’s face. that’s like a group of ppl telling the NBA/NFL/MLB “guys it’s just a game, don’t take it serious” when they want that championship ring.

      • Taiganost

        Your analogy doesn’t hold up because sports actually matter :P

        • ahdonye

          Most sports are retarded and anyone who watches Football, Basketball or Baseball is a closet homosexual because they watch men running around in tight pants (baseball and football) ot their baggy underwear (basketball). Anyone who plays basketball is a sissy (you touched me, I get to shoot free throws). The only manly sports are hockey, rugby, and skateboarding.

          • de BLOO

            What a retarded way at looking at things, you are obviously a raging homo in the closet.

        • Thancruz

          it matters to who? the players yea. Just like it matters to those winning big tournies like CEO,EVO, etc. .

  • INCIDENT

    Too bad not enough people here play Virtua Fighter so we could retaliate and beat Japan in “their game.”

    • Aquashark

      ..but Akira is S tier and broken :<

      • INCIDENT

        Backcheck is slow and linear. Get over it.

        You could separate later VF tiers with a sheet one-ply toilet paper. :P

  • NEWkidCJ

    Good stuff to Japan.

    USA land of the free. XD

  • EROSENTINEL

    sounds like someone is jealous of viscant lol

  • double F

    i just think Viscant (or SOMEONE) needs to bring Deejay into top 8 at Evo. that’s all i want. i don’t even care if it’s a Japanese player, or a woman.

    As for Tokido and his Phoenix b.s…. Marlin Pie has something to show you (besides the flowered t-shirt that he wears constantly).

    great swag. great swagsperience.

  • two2tone

    USA nowadays vs Japan is way better than USA vs JPN back in the 3s , ST, cvs2 eras…. nowadays you actually see US players kicking JPN’s ass… back then man… Japan would just steam roll over everyone…
    dont believe me? watch this:
    http://youtu.be/wTfLzzYUmHg

    or how about this:
    http://youtu.be/RWyyapnW8GE

    or:
    http://youtu.be/YC8Ktd9VEPw

    USA is doing 100x better than back then, dont even compare

  • deadfrog

    Inkblot i think this is my favourite thing you’ve ever put on the frontpage

  • Robawtninja

    Viscant is old yes, but do you even know how much games and practice he even had? He doesn’t have a job and has played over thousands of MvC3 games online within the first week. Saying that the youngin’s should be beating him isn’t all that logical.
    And for AE, maybe if we had a community who lives and thrives in arcades like Japan does, we would be much better. Now I’m not saying that this is an excuse for us to suck, but this motivation post can be thrown to Japanese players and it’ll have the same effect. Not much. Inspiration has to come from within to be the best. And if you can beat Daigo, who happens to practice 10-12 hours a day, well ask yourself if you’re willing to practice as much (if you have the time) to beat him.
    My point is that many people have lives and other social obligations to be out doing other things so they don’t get to practice as much. That doesn’t mean they aren’t hungry for victory in any way. Times have changed and the person next to you isn’t just some bimbo, it’s Daigo.

  • Overworld

    Well I do think it is a valid point, in this case older players came over and beat our older players. It’s not as if Japan sent over rising starts that played on a dwindling pool of US talent. So I do think it is a bit of an odd accusation to make when things are business as usual on most fronts.

    Also I would have to say I believe the community has seen a lot more names rise. It used to be a foregone conclusion that if Justin Wong attended a tournament sans Japanese players he was probably going to win one if not all of the tournaments he entered. Now he has had losses to other US players and the scene has caught up to him a bit. (So much so people are arguing the US NYC SBO qualifier should not be two singles tournaments as people aren’t as worried that a poor player will be carried to the win).

    I support the idea that new players need to step up–but perhaps this isn’t a case of new players failing to step up, but a case of experience being more valuable than you give it credit.

    After all we’re talking about Daigo, Tokido, and Mago–who aren’t fresh faces to anyone in the scene.

  • voltz

    Pic Adblocked.

  • JayAlanCarter

    too bad the usual reaction for players today when they lose is that they demand the winning character to be banned in the tournament.

  • MarceloAbans

    It doesn’t matter what afge of the player is so long as they win, Daigo 30.. Though, US does need to step it’s game up..

  • tROYISM

    soooo great to see these players dominating still

  • tROYISM

    why do only some peoples avatars show when posting to these news articles?…

    • teniki

      no clue. But those ppl are probably very godlike and amazing.

      • teniki

        aw dam mine didn’t show

  • hold dat

    The climate is very different. Too much japanese dickriding and not enough competitive spirit from the new guys. Hopefully we get our revenge at evo.

    Best article on srk.

    • TrollThisSRK

      Ever stop to think that perhaps this ‘dickriding’ takes place because Japan is ACTUALLY WINNING and possesses this ‘competitive spirit’ that you claim is lacking in the US crew? That people applaud the best/most admirable players regardless of where they’re from?

      Wait, of course you didn’t stop to think.

  • fatcrew

    Billy Mitchell’s rollin over in his grave right now….

  • Caim

    We left this bullshit back in the old days for a reason, fuckbag. If you want to revisit them, feel free to form your own circlejerk with Valle and Watson.

    • thejohnsonrock

      for a minute i actually thought you’re tag was spelled “CALM”. boy how could i think that…

  • lunarhostility

    No idea why this article chose to hate on Viscant.

    • Good Game Player

      its a joke, jesus

  • mtsac kid

    great read Ink!
    old man perspective with the extra dash of salt added in.

  • Kendrik

    Thanks for the slap in the face. I know I need it. More than ever, I wanna hit the lab these days. Become a fighting machine while developing my own flair. Hooah.

  • Guilty

    I respect these players and admire their skill, but this is our house. It’s time for us to step up and send them home with empty pockets.

  • FlawlessMatador

    Why could’t they just get an article for Jeff Schaeffer? He’s got a way better outlook on these types of things.

    Also why is it necessary to be patriotic about SF or MvC? I seem to remember the American players laughing about Tokido getting skilled in MvC and now if you bring up how he won it’s nothing but excuses and hate.

  • Gen2K

    That pic is simply too good.

    Need more articles like this, old SRK.com use to do it more back in the day. Today’s general fighting game player is more concern with giving their opinion of how a certain fighting game should be instead of just simply getting in the lab or vs. competition and breaking the game down and just busting it open.

  • SVN4

    Comment #55 explains everything and a bit more about the “future”…

  • W3nch

    Great article.

    Also, the first thing that went through my mind when I saw that pic was, “OUR FIGHT MONEEEEYYYYY….!!!!” :(

  • Shock_whore

    i don’t know why Krone took it so personally after the loss. He should’ve taken it like a man, give props where it is due, and chill. It’s okay to get OWNED! A real man accepts defeat. I think if a pro sports player such as Kobe Bryant just said, “fawk it” and walked away without a word, he would get redicule/criticize. Man up and ………….”why so serious?” hahaha

    Overall, I don’t think the top Jap players are in only for the $$$. It’s probably only a very small part of their reason for being in any tournaments. Most would have to be fame and just wanting to be the best out there.. I am sure Daigo, Mago, Tokido, etc.. have enough $$$ to spare…

  • Shock_whore

    oh BTW, I get my @ss OWNED most of the time online anyway.. I’m cool and i’ve managed to beat many of the ones who OWNED me.. Don’t ask for my ID cuz i’m a noob……..still. hahaha

  • ShinkuGadoken

    Fuck, This pisses me off to no end.

    Wolfkrone, I know many are hating, but I feel you. I too cry manly tears when I lose. You can ask everyone in Cleveland.

    As for the article itself, No way, No Fucking Way in hell, am I letting Daigo, Tokido, Ryu, or any other fuck twat from Japan take the crown at Evo. I hope you all like the taste of Salt, because the Most Ineffectively Effective Combat Maneuver known as the Shinku Gadoken is coming to clean the fuck up.

  • whodatninja

    the idea that large prize pools resulting in worse players is laughably illogical.

    bullets kill people. bullets are made of metal. metal is bad. durrrrrrrrrrrr.

    • Clawww

      Hey, smartass: read up on extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. It’s a proven psychological concept. But that’s much harder than posting some knee-jerk ignorant comment, so I guess you won’t.

      • whodatninja

        No, reading something is not much harder than making a comment, and to think my comment is a knee-jerk reaction to something is ignorant itself. Having read up (albeit briefly) on the two concepts you posted, I don’t think they apply here, at least not in a specific player-based sense. It would apply if we were seeing a huge drop off in the total number of entrants into the tournaments, with emphasis on typically strong players either shitting the bed or simply not entering, but that’s not we’re seeing. Instead, you see the cream of the crop entering the tournaments and making deep runs, yet losing in the podium positions. This doesn’t tell me that they’re entering at a lower skill level than had there been no prize, it tells me that they are not as skilled as the winners of these tournaments, and even this is not on a wide scale. The matches are typically competitive, it’s just that the better players are winning, and they just so happen to be Japanese. The best of the best are always going to float to the top. If you’re arguing that there are fewer and fewer good players being developed, I couldn’t say, but to say that the players that enter tournaments to win are less motivated to win due to the prize money doesn’t make sense to me. They enter knowing full well what tthe prizes are, rather than being submitted to covert psychological testing of whether they will perform better without a prize vs a cookie at the end.

  • Muffman

    Wish I had me a ballin man purse…

  • DoyleBingster

    Good article.

    I wouldn’t say this is panic time for U.S. players, but we should definitely take note that Japan has its’ heels dug in deep. They’re not going anywhere in MvC3 anytime soon. Gotta start hitting the lab and stepping our play up as a whole. I think this is the sort of motivation we need to take shit to the next level.

    That said, looking forward to EVO to see if we can get our shit together.

  • randomjohn

    That salty walk from Krone is just like the walk of shame from WSOP when someone gets eliminated. Anyone who watches or watched WSOP on ESPN knows what I’m talking about.

  • starmine92

    you heard it here first everyone. we need to out practice the top players. everyone drop out of school, quit any full time jobs you may have, quit any time consuming hobby you may do. we all need to lose our lives to these games

    • 1cepick

      I concur.

    • MrSoada

      College is easy bro. Maybe not stuff like MechE on pre-med track at a top 5 school (yes, rubbing my own ego), but getting good isn’t impossible. But lol if you complain about not being good enough on a competitive fighting game site, mr. born in ’92.

      • Fivec

        Why would you do mechanical engineering on a pre-med track?

        • del1rium

          So you can brag about it online. No doubt he makes six figures and has a supermodel girlfriend as well.

        • MrSoada

          For fun and to keep options open. Sorry community college kiddies, real men go to top schools and beast at fighting games.

  • Diernes

    I called this shit, months ago…. the mvc3 defeat is especially lol’s .. stay free america. Evo will be very interesting…..

  • rtdzign

    While US players did get blown up by Tokido for MvC3, it shouldn’t be a surprize when AE has been all over arcades in Japan for about 6 months while there where probably less than 10 machines in the US before the DLC came out. The majority of US players only had access to AE for a week.

    They had 6 months of unrestricted widespread access to AE while our top players had to drive a few hours to find an AE machine if they could even drive to one.

  • Sleepy Zero

    All I got to say is America held it down in Tekken at both tournaments so Japan can suck it.. Tokido will never win a Tekken major in the U.S. period.

    • TrollThisSRK

      You DO understand that Tokido is about the ~1000th best tekken player in Japan and the only reason they don’t come here and sweep top 8 in tekken at every major is because theres not enough money involved to make it worth their while, right? Please tell me you understand that.

      • two2tone

        Sleepy Zero just got told lol

    • Hulk

      Last I heard it was Nin who comes and takes the Tekken money.

  • urkangijordi

    As long as our Japanese rivals don’t win at Mortal Kombat i’ll be OK. If that happens I will have to quit watching streams and playing fighting games on bases of insanity.

  • Beavith

    If you’re not striving to be the best, why play?

    • Eileithyia

      play for fun? not every is going to tournament. most people play video games for fun only. like 4m SF4 sold. 98% of them don’t really care about tournament.

    • TrollThisSRK

      Oh I dunno. Fun? Being that it is a game? Play games for fun? No comprende?

  • rteruyas

    Nigga stole my bike, and now Daigo took my money. MY FIGHT MONEEEEEY!!!!!

  • Diernes

    got mixed up with the ceo 2011, but still comment stands…

  • Pablo_the_Mex

    Mr. Cannon is mad. Evo postponed.

  • Fivec

    Who’s the third dude with money, btw?

    • keatzz

      Satoshi

  • BurstZX

    Yeah this isnt good we gotta start beating them in our home court…

  • Truong

    To every bitch-made fucks who responded with “it’s just a game” or “don’t take it so serious” or “I have a life” or “lol only losers take SF so seriously”: Why the fuck are you on this site posting that? This is a site dedicated to competitive SF and fighting games in general. SF has a real, rich, and entertaining history. For you assclowns to say what you say, and insult legends like Alex Valle, is mad disrespectful.

    If you don’t take SF or competitive FG seriously, do us all a favor and leave. Don’t stick around with your useless comments, because clearly this site and its goals weren’t meant for you.

    Fuck every single one of you who insults the community, the legends, the history, and most of all, the genuine dedication it takes to become great at Street Fighter.

    • G77

      There’s nothing wrong with taking something seriously.

      My only arguement is that being serious about being the best is not synonymous with having a mindset of hating your opponent.

      I’m a very competitive person, but if someone told me that I’d have to stop being a nice person if I ever wanted to win, I’m gonna tell them that I think they’re wrong, whether they be a “legend” or not.

      Peace,

      G.

  • Ultros

    Embarrassing. That’s all I can say after looking at that pic.

  • Orokun

    U mad? just kidding. Seriously thou all i read in this post is hate towards japanese players. dont get me wrong there are a lot of american players who are good hell clakey d almost handed mago his ass on theyre fight. i think its just that their taking revelations as a practice ground to see what theyre up against on evo since AE hasnt been out much long in the US

    • Jourdal

      Clakey D lost 2-0….Daigo was loling over everyone until he fought Mago where he had to be patient and seemed to take things a lot more seriously. Clakey did well the whole event but there was no point it looked like daigo was gonna get bodied by a US player.

  • Banzboy

    The writer of this article wants to start a war.

    • Wil

      Considering there’s SBO qualifieres and SBO itself will happen after EVO, yes Japan is stepping onto our grounds and we need to protect it. When SBO comes around, America would like to put up a good and respectable showing in Japan.

      This article is a shout out to the new generation of gamers. The spirit and motivation to win is lacking with the younger crop of gamers who we feel will be the future players in competitive fighting game tournamentes.

  • ATM SPIDERTAO

    i just want everyone i know that i said tokido was fucking awesome and nobody even listened to me and thought i was just some scrub. I AM NOT A SCRUB. I AM THE BEST. and tokido is the best player who plays on xboxlive in the japanese region. he is easily a top cosmic lord. as am i!!! but strategically, jwong had some crucial errors which would have been remedied if he had been coached by ME. instead, he choose to fight tokido’s team with only 2 characters and a useless third one, tronne. however, i am on tokido’s side!!! i’ll take my secrets with me to the grave. or until someone else says something similar in which case, i’ll divulge the information on how to beat him

  • tobdawg831

    It’s funny that this post got so many responses. It was really aimed to fire up high level US players and build hype for EVO. The only top player, Valle, responded in agreement with the post and then gets blasted for it. No wonder the top players don’t post much on the site.

  • JayAlanCarter

    interesting to see on tokido’s XBL profile, he’s also playing MK.. who knows.. later on they might dominate all fighting games.

  • KingofSarus

    Great article.

    Makes me want to step my game up, get swole and then teach the kids I know the way of Street Fighter, because I know they aren’t spoiled little bitches and would be godlike in the future.

    It’s kind of like, “If you’re not godlike, then shoot your load in a bitch and pray for that kid to be godlike for you.”

  • Acku

    I was hoping for a good analysis of past events and all I found was an elitist rant about spoiled kids and how the old days were better.
    The guys who took top honor in these past two events were guys who were there in the old days, and are now best of class in the new days since well, they actually are better due to their experience. Who’s to say that they ‘took’ money away from the proverbial ‘us’? They are ‘us’, if ‘us’ is the fighting game community where this site is the epitome of.

    I fail to see who this article is trying to motivate. Especially the attack on the ‘stream monsters’ is unwarranted, as everybody wants the community to prevail and grow, but nobody likes the concept of having a crowd that acts crowdly. It’s ok as long as they are view numbers for Levelup or Spooky, but as soon as they talk they should hold their uneducated mouths and stick to drooling at the Daigo posters in their bedroom.
    They however are essential to e-sport. Sure they say stupid things, but having them say it means you mean something, and meaning something to someone attracts business, which attracts money required to be a competitive sport that is sustainable for its competitors. every attack on them is trying to break the legs of the chair you sit on. From a leading site, and thus a community leader, you’d expect a more grown-up approach. Especially if you are a fossil. Being called an old-man is only pejorative if you don’t have the wisdom to go with it.

    If you want to motivate, then analyse what happened and provide answers to how to beat that.

  • Stratoforce

    Unfortunately, money is a issue for many people who play at a high level. Traveling across the united states is expensive, and not everyone can afford it. Unlike in japan were traveling is relatively cheap. Online in america is worse than in japan as well and it is actually really hard to improve online in MvC3 despite what was said on stream. I can understand being ‘salty’ that japan came in and won a lot, but they just got a better video game scene in general. I understand the article, but what makes me laugh is how hypocritical it is. Japan didn’t just ‘run people over’. Chris G would of beat Tokido, and if X-Factor wasn’t silly in MvC3 I am sure we would see much better matches. Then again, this game is Capcom vs X-men, RIGHT?!

    The fighting game community in america is just limited. Hell, I’d love to get involved in the tournament scene. But then I’d have to retrain myself to play on a universal joystick instead of being a d-pad warrior for PS3. That’s about 200-300 bucks just for the joystick. Then 15-20 bucks in gas to go up to the closest tournament scene. That is with LIVING in the state. Then entry fee. Then another 15-20 bucks in gas gone on the way back. I’d love to play people like Yipes, Chris G, Wolf, etc and get owned, learn stuff and such until my eyes bleed. It just costs to much money, and online is really unreliable.

    Even assuming I own the joystick, the money cost for travel and entry usually isn’t that much less than what you’d win at non-huge tournaments. It is a loss-loss.

  • Crysalim

    Sorry to say this, but you’re really not giving the Japs enough credit.

    #1 They don’t hate on each other like we do, they collaborate and share strategies, which they then post on their weblogs.
    #2 They don’t ruin their scene by messing with tournament rules ON THEIR OWN TOURNAMENT STREAMS.
    #3 They practice when they lose instead of complaining about some random shit like a character being too good or Gimmick Of The Week To Whine About #69.
    #4 They don’t waste time with 100 episodes of pathetic trash talk on youtube, looking at you Mike Ross and Gootecks (why do those guys even get coverage on our sites??)

    I have very little respect for most of our supposed pros and scene organizers. Even you, Inkblot, aren’t even giving Viscant props because he’s not “young and new”. I mean, wtf is that? You’re going to hate on one of the OG’s of Srk because he’s not the same person you see in 90% of the stories on this site and Event Hubs?

    Come on now. When you have one of our supposed “pros” crying like a baby while Combofiend rips him a new one for all to see, in his own house nonetheless, you need look no further for one of the problems Americans have – massive entitlement and lack of professional ethics.

    Those people deserve to lose and will continue to do so. In the meantime, I will cheer as hard as I can for the people that deserve it – the ones who are content with being skilled and actually winning and the ones that work their ass off behind the scenes to help out.

    Clockw0rk, Wolfkrone, Combofiend, PR Rog, Perfect Legend, not to mention the East Coast peeps I’m forgetting, you all do the scene proud. Keep on rocking.

    Alex Valle, UltraDavid, James Chen, you guys are seriously burning the midnight oil to organize our scene and give it credibility. Especially you Calipower, your efforts with Level Up and WNF are just unparalleled and you truly deserve the utmost respect from everyone in the scene.

    There’s so many people that deserve recognition and props but just don’t get them. I don’t WANT to see stories like this anymore. I want to see positive feedback and reinforcement so that the “young and new” have people to look up to and learn from.

    /end of rant

    PS. Justin Wong should be our Daigo but he needs to stop being lazy

    • TrollThisSRK

      Mike Ross got 3rd at revelations
      Gootecks has been top 8 at many majors
      Justin Wong LAZY? You can call him many things but lazy is not one of them. That guy is gaming non-stop.

      Shut your ignorant, stupid, streammonster mouth, basically.

    • Nubilous

      truth

      • Nubilous

        truth to the original comment not the ignorant response

        • TrollThisSRK

          Yea me and my ignorant FACTS

    • MrSoada

      Stop idolizing Japanese players. They have quite a few bad habits. If you haven’t been to a Japanese arcade, I suggest you go at some point in your life. Like a pilgrimage to Mecca. But instead of virgins you’re rewarded with mind-numbingly idiotic customs and passive-aggressive behavior.

  • AzevedoFromHell

    how the fuck this article is in front page?!
    is that the way ppl motivate each other in the USA!?
    to win the japanese ppl gotta be more focused and mature during the match…
    you mentioned Wolfkrone in the article, but he played like fucking desperate kid against daigo he wasnt blocking shit!

    • TrollThisSRK

      Yesterday it was ‘hey its ok to challenge the army’ Today its WHY YOU NO TIER WHORING AND WINNING MORE?

      Gotta love it.

    • Wil

      It’s an editorial by the founder of SRK and EVO. Deal with it.

  • craze

    haters going to hate

    whats life without a little salt (makes it better)

    good shit winners!!! i love it

    craze

  • jaymie66

    ‘Today it’s too easy to beg for a patch..” So this is one of the reasons why people have less motivation nowadays? Complete nonsense.

    If you want a game again where people only play 2 characters of a 15+ character cast, go play 3rd strike. By the way, Street Fighter IV never got patched. They made a new game which we had to pay for, some new charachters. Same story with AE. A patch is more like a DLC fix which is free!

    Patching should help the community wanting to get better. Some things just need a fix. I can make a list of things that were just errors in Super SFIV. If you played the game you should know that yourself. What effort does it take to ‘patch’ minor errors? If they would patch, people would stick with their character they liked to play in the 1st place rather then switching to the “top tier”.

    It’s all about the money (why patch it when people will buy the “new” game after 12 months) and those frigging arcades where patching obviously takes more than people downloading it. If it wasn’t for arcades, fighting games could have had patches just like first person shooters. Some things are just buggy.

    Back then with only the arcades you had the hardcore gamers only because a casual gamer wouldn’t go out and play and lose his money everyday. Nowadays you can play at home which gives you a better chance to get better. I bet more people play Street Fighter now than back in the day. The hardcore group still exists ..

  • ukyo_rulz

    I’m not sure why inkblot says games didn’t used to get patched. I remember that SF2 got patched to hell and back, finally resulting in SSF2T. The only difference is that back then you had to buy the same game all over again to get the benefit of the patches.

  • Dragoonhead Windgod

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H_56CUujXs

    I think this link is perfect for this news.

  • Nubilous

    why the hate for VIscant ? he practiced ..he learned the game…he won ..you are seriously stupid . . And why is Daigo holding ”our” money lool , it was open to all comers from all around the world …how exactly does that make it U.S.A’s money ?? . You just typify the right wing/ignorant/loud mouthed section of american society .

    • Vegetas_dad

      very true ..gotta love these ignorant americans lol .

    • TrollThisSRK

      It was a joke you retard. They are friends.

      You just called the founder of SRK stupid. I guess you shouldn’t post anymore on this ‘stupid guy’s’ ‘stupid site’ huh?

  • FlexoV

    <>

    Be used to winning is the sucessful path to lose.

  • Tim Static

    I wonder if Daigo got all those $100 bills in his man purse <3

  • Sakabato4

    Real Talk on this article!!!! However, I do believe that a considerable portion of the young and upcoming fighting gamers are starved, and desperately hungry to succeed and dethrone the Japanese Kings so to speak. Hopefully, it will only be a matter of time before that happens at all, much less on a consistent basis. The money is undeniably a powerful incentive, but to me losing a match is by far worse than walking out of the venue without my “fight money”. If you have the money and you are committed, you stay in the place until you finally expose the cracks in your opponents strategy and outplay him/her, or you get peed on trying. Long live the competitive spirit.

  • SegaAM2Imagineer

    YOU DAMN KIDS…GET OFF MY LAWN!…LOL

  • New Era Outlaw

    Daigo does what he has to to win. A lot of the players online complain about a lot of things that they can easily overcome by improving themselves, and yet, they choose to bitch and moan and whine all over the place.

    Daigo and the others up there? They DON’T CARE. They found out what strategy worked best, got over there and won FIGHT MONAY. AMERICA’s FIGHT MONAY.

    Let this be a lesson to many of the whiners.
    You can complain all you want, but unless you get over yourselves and do what you have to to be the best, this will happen over and over again, and you’ll never win.

  • Sakabato4

    On another note, I cannot believe these people who are disrespecting Alex Valle and Inkblot. If you have even played these two men, spoken to them, or even had the chance to appreciate their demeanor and work in the community, you wouldn’t be saying these things. They have done a lot to advance the evolution and growth of the FGC.

  • Gaijin87

    I think we need to get something like a bounty going for EVO. I was amazed when the community raised a boat load of money for Chris Hu when he needed it most. Why not do the same for extra incentive at EVO? SRK should set up a PayPal account which people can donate to. Anyone who beats Daigo takes 1/3, anyone who knocks Daigo out of the tournament gets 2/3. Hell, throw Mago in there too. Beating Daigo should be motivation enough, but let’s be realistic… money talks.

    • Clawww

      This idea is amazing. I don’t know if it’s stupid or genius, but it’s amazing.

  • 334 Rocky

    I agreed with this article until he started mentioning ages. The age difference has nothing to do with playing SF. You comprehend a game like you comprehend a book, the decline of reflexes doesn’t start until you are in your late 50s. I understand your reason for not concentrating on the reason we are getting dominating by foreign players, but don’t knock justin and mike (who are still young) for competing.

    You wanna stir the hunger of people in the US? Trash talk and win! Too many people trying to adopt the japanese attitude, Americans should do their own thing. Lately, everyone has been holding hands and singing cum ba ya, where is the competition in that? Major money matches happened in MVC2 because of the trash talk and the urge to back it up. Americans have big egos, exploiting this concept will push the concept of “hunger”. Because of the lack of challenging each other… America has lost their nutts.

  • Str1d3rx109x

    Damn. See there is a problem with online gaming, in a way it is killing local competition. I live in Puerto Rico now…but I use to live in NYC…and in NYC you would hear about dudes from such and such place…and you would ask around on how to get in touch with such guy…cuz he was beasting on people…so you wanted to put your block on the map….rep 109th btw Ams and Broadway and go meet the dude from 96th street and put your skills to the test. Now living in PR…shit ain’t like that anymore. I gotta go online…and deal with lag in MVC3, lag in MK9 or whatever game bc PR’s internet connection blows chunks. I have my friends around my way dominated @ MVC3…I practice my balls off…and got no one at my level to test my skills out…and it sucks. We need the good old days back….losing them courters till u were broke…ran to mom/dad and asked them for more change to go BEAT that dude!!!

  • Str1d3rx109x

    btw im 25….and my generation…will forever be the best @ fighters PERIOD!!

  • Kurow

    Salty articles like this one should not be at the front page… if you are salty just post your crying at your blog facebook or any other place.

    The best player should win and Daigo was the best at the tournaments. It is funny that you only want the Japanese top players to come all the way to your country just to see them lose….

    Again the best should win no matter from what country he is from (America, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, Korea).

  • Str1d3rx109x

    Orientals go hard maaaaan…way of the samurai!!! I’m telling you. think they gonna hop on a long ass flight to come and get rocked? hell no. LOL they came to (as we say in spanish) “comerles el culo”!

  • martyr84

    SSFiV:AE
    1. MCZ|Daigo Umehara (Yun) Japan
    2. MCZ|Mago (Fei Long) Japan
    3. Hsien Chang (Yun) Chinese / Taiwaenese?
    4. AG|Latif (C. Viper) Saudi Arabian
    5. Infiltration (Akuma) Korean

    • MrSoada

      Hsien Chang is American. Ethnicity doesn’t matter. It’s like saying Mike Ross winning is a win for Africa.

    • Gaijin87

      Seriously, let’s not turn this into a race thing. Cultural maybe, but not race.

  • natural_ice

    Daigo and Mago chillin wit some bitchs on da beach smokin crack and drinkin champagne. Just like Tyson

    • Loque

      +1

  • godfist

    The only time that I know of where the US dominated Japan in multiple games was Evo2k8 with Choi winning ST and CvS2. Then again it took 10 years of Evo for that to happen. Other than that Japan has been raping the US 90% of the time since tournaments have been around. This is nothing new. We go to SBO every year and get slammed. This is nothing new. Tokido comes here and plays a team that I’ve seen ZERO americans play and suddenly we’re the lazy ones?! Daigo and Japan get a 7 month head start on AE and suddenly the US is at fault? Please.

    Oh and while I was typing that paragraph the media network coke ad popped up and I had to refresh the page JUST TO POST THIS. Easy for SRK admins to play armchair tournament quarterbacks and rake in the money from spwyare on their page.

    • TrollThisSRK

      Please explain how daigo got a 7 month lead on AE. Please. Im dying to know.

      • Gaijin87

        I was wondering the same thing – this is a strange excuse that has been floating around. Pretty sure almost all of the US top players had access to AE at the same exact time as Japan. Whether or not they had top competition to continuously practice against is another story though.

  • godfist

    To add to my last post, this rant would be far more relevant if these new games had been out at least a year. PR Balorg HAS BEATEN JAPAN in ssf4 multiple times, but he actually had time to digest the game and the level of competition. It’s like bitching out your freshman high school basketball team because they lost their first game.

  • hold dat

    pride and rivalalry seems to be missing alot from the new gamers. ive seen people asking for daigo’s autiograph while he’s in their pool…..cmon son thats wack

    none of us should like japanese players coming here and winning OUR tournaments. respect their wins? yes. respect their skill? yes. but we should feel salty about daigo winning evo 2x in a row

    • martyr84

      We shouldn’t like japanese players? See thats one of the things thats wrong with the american mentality. Do americans have to use hate towards another player to give em’ the extra adrenaline?

      Maybe we should learn from the Japanese instead of hating them. Maybe we should ask them advice on what America is doing wrong. There is nothing wrong with learning. America doesn’t HAVE to be #1 in everything, automatically. Japanese superiority in fighting games didn’t come from hate. It came from skill.

      These are fighting games, they aren’t about race, ethnicity or gender. Its about who’s more skilled and thats it.

      • martyr84

        This wasn’t a reply to hold dat. These are just my opinions on some of the replies here.

  • AlgeKevin

    Just thought I’d say one thing; Japan sends their BEST players over here, so of course they’re going to place high and pretty much win. Telling the rest of us to step OUR game up? How do you expect us to magically get up to the level of the BEST Japanese players? All we can do is hope the current top players do something about it, because the new generation won’t be able to do so for a VERY long time.

    • hold dat

      @algekevin- i agree but the US fighting game community as a whole should be salty about these recent wins by japan over here. broke my damn heart to see tokido beat wong in marvel.

      i’m not hating on japan but they are the competion. we are the home team

  • Momo

    Oh u mad cuz they styled on ya. Flash dem cash as a result of styling on ya. Salt levels be rising up cuz competition be firing up and be a wake up call to prevent another fall. Just hit the lab and then call a cab straight to EVO when you are satisfied. Come to EVO and show your might cuz you want your fight money to compensate for your hundred dolla flight. Just keep it real and you’ll see it will be a big deal when finally you stand tall above all. Till then, there be less family men and fairies but more of the mercenaries that is deep within us.

    Well i just wanted to portray this issue in a different way. Where there’s a will there’s a way. We can do it.

  • juggernaut1981

    Damn Inkblot, from one “old man” to another. Real Fn’ talk

  • Beganoo

    Type your message here…

  • AkumaTX

    LOL @ the people saying its not about the money, because surely the Japs do not travel from the best comp (aka Japan) to try their skills against the Americans.

  • Ceo NB

    they travel for the competition is it the japs fault we are not on there level? Why don’t Americans travel for there tournaments?

  • Siefer

    Alright, you guys are idiots and continue to show that you’re dumb. The “09′ers” have nothing to do with this, SRK has always been dumb since its inception.

    First of all, what applied to yesterday doesn’t apply to today. I’m sorry, if that bothers you guys, if you think that’s what makes the scene “weaker”, then…well, tough shit. Either deal with it and adapt (like Valle has been trying to do) or gtfo because things change. This is just part of getting older, and you’re either going to accept that or you’re going to make yourself miserable trying to relive a past that no longer exists.

    Next, as a few people mentioned above but a lot of people are conveniently ignoring, wtf is with this sense of entitlement that you spoiled brats (and yes, this applies to you OG’s as well) seem to have? “America’s money?” Are you fucking kidding me? This has nothing to do with America, the better player won, and I don’t think you’ll find anyone to dispute that the better players won, and dominated this weekend, they just all happened to be from Japan. Don’t mix that nationalistic pride bullshit in where it doesn’t belong. Instead of crying and making childish rants on internet sites, the REAL players are learning from this loss and looking to up their game. Actions speak louder than words eh?

    This isn’t the end of the fucking world, and for fuck’s sake, it’s not like this is anything new. Japan has been dominating us for YEARS, even before SF IV came out (and arguably, even more so before SF IV came out).

    Stop your whining, stop your crying, learn from your losses, up your game. Grow the fuck up people.

  • TheRetroKid

    The US Marvel players got served a large slice of humble pie and got to wash it down with a large glass of shut-up juice.

    The pride in prior accomplishments is all well and good, but what’s with the mentality that once you’re good at an iteration of a game or a style of gameplay, that you’re automatically the best when a sequel comes out? Fine, MvC2 was dominated by the US, but that means nothing in regards to MvC3. No rallying call is required and inkblot isnt fucking Paul Revere. The Japanese flew across the world to participate against THE BEST Marvel players at CEO, while the best US players flew across the country to avoid the best SF player. What does that say about pride and dignity?

  • martyr84

    Why hasn’t anyone mentioned Clakey Dee’s win over Sako?

    That has alot of weight and todays game have a random factor that can outway the skill factor. Not saying JP’s aren’t better but Clakey proved he outplay a japenese player. Just givin’ credit where its due.

    • Gaijin87

      Because in most the majority of people’s eyes, Sako isn’t Daigo or Mago, simple as that. No disrespect to Clakey though, that was a great win.

    • amkkma

      because he didn’t outplayed sako, he won in the last round of the last game, same round sako missed to big combos that could give him the win, but i guess that’s the price you pay when you try to be fancy 100% of the time, he could just do regular combos, but no, he had to go to the jab 1 frame links that are real 1 frame links, cant be plinked or anything.

  • Uberbob25

    America I swear I will do everything to show you we can beat them at there own game just wait and see..

  • Uberbob25

    BobCustomGamer is not afraid , My Gief will make you proud I promise! I will never EVER get salty (I will killing everyone with me kindness and I using my positive focus to crush them and I will only strive harder to get better. )

    Guys everything you read you need to throw out the window, you need to rely on your own abilities to beat them, My Gief is ME I dont copy Japanese giefs and I don’t their setups or combos now I make new ones on the fly and these guys have now idea how hard its gonna know how to approach it….

  • ecwolf

    Is that Akon?

  • Shock_whore

    one question… Why can’t US players get as good as Jap players and perhaps surpass them? I mean, it’s not like Daigo/Mago got super human skills.. It must be the lacked of dedication..

    • Nitro263

      It’s a number of reasons. Dedication is only one of them. The fact that the community is much more concentrated and stronger in general is another. Also there’s the general mentality of top Japanese players, which is actually much more effective than the US’s mentality of merely “winning against everyone else”.

      The prevalent mentality is simply improving, and becoming as good as they possibly can. It’s a much stronger mentality because it isn’t broken by losing, isn’t diminished by winning, is indifferent to the stakes of the match, and isn’t dependent on the competition. It’s why I try to adopt that mentality. You don’t get upset when you lose – just disappointed in yourself. You never get complacent by winning – because you’re always trying to improve. It’s powerful.

      • Shock_whore

        excellent response.. i love it… i thought someone was gonna bash on me for saying that… Thanks!

  • Raion

    Hsien Tsang isn’t american

    • Gaijin87

      Do you mean Caucasian? You don’t have to be white to be American. He’s from Dallas.

  • Shock_whore

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttK3TQI5zrY

    Was Ricky about to cry at the end of the video? He took it too hard…

    • natural_ice

      Ricky and FChamp just got done partying with Tina. It’ll do that to your eyes.

  • OGM721

    Coming right out of a Chase bank with money in hand. Love it.

  • Bulkhead

    The laaand of the freeee!

  • Son of a Gun

    Well at least they’re not beating people at Mortal Kombat yet.

  • SSJMochiballs

    Well, I’ve been in the scene for a while too (as an actual player and not just a forum reading, stream watching, youtube commenting scrub), and I think a big part of it is actually SRK’s fault, which sounds ridiculous, but let me explain.

    SRK built the community, for sure, but it’s also given a lot of scrubs a voice, and they’re louder than everyone else. The SRK forums have created this weird sub culture of people who don’t actually play or know anything, but feel free to commentate on it.

    Look at these comments. These people have this weird image of the Japanese as being stoic, machine-like, zen monsters. They like the Japanese, certainly, but it’s also racist in my opinion. It makes sense, these online people are Japanophiles who haven’t actually attended tournaments and they don’t feel competitive against Japan . They have this weird idea of “honor” that they’re projecting onto Japanese players. So even though Daigo consistently plays the highest tier character in every game, they still think “HE’S SO HONORABLE ^_^”. Justin uses Rufus, but somehow he’s still a “tier whore”.

    For some reason, American players are hated on, and the difference is that it actually gets into the heads of American players. Justin clearly isn’t trying his hardest. He plays wack ass low tiers all the time. Ricky has to put up with rampant online homophobia, and no matter who American top players pick, they’re open to scrutiny from people who don’t even show up to tournaments. It’s weird because now top Americans are image conscious, which Japanese players don’t have to deal with because no matter what a Japanese player does, they’re going have American fans.

    American players can’t even talk shit to their own friends without 50 youtube comments taking sides, which prompts most players to look and say “who the hell ARE these people?”.

    The spectators are changing the game and they’re not PLAYING it. That’s why we have no new blood. Who has time to actually play? Especially when these people are too busy going on forums and shit talking strangers (not Japanese ones, they’re so honorable!). Trolling is funny, but the side effect is that they’re not playing the game to win, and probably not playing the game at all.

    In days past you used to put up articles bashing scrubbiness, what happened to those? Scrubs these days are WAY more into complaining about “cheapness” than they were in those days. People love Japanese players because they don’t think the Japanese exploit tiers or game systems the way we do. Maybe you should show them video of Japanese Alpha 3 play. Or Japanese CVS2 from evo2k2,

    I’ve been competitive for over a decade now and I’ve actually Met Daigo, Ino, BAS, and all those guys, but I’m not stupid, or racist, frankly, to think they’re not just players who want to beat the next best player.

    When old school players say “this is street fighter” they’re referring to the fact that old school players and Japanese players do whatever it takes to win, but that attitude’s gone with new online gamers. They snipe from the sidelines and watch streams. They’re the kind of idiots who can’t do a 3 hit combo, but they DO know what the Japanese name for a hurricane kick is and what Ken’s blood type is! It’s not necessarily bad, but it makes bad players.

    Anyways, I’ll just go ahead and say that yeah the Japanese are better than us, but some of it is just that MVC3 has been utterly rejected by the MVC2 community (and merely “sorta rejected” by the fighting game community at large I’d say) and SSF4:AE is fairly new to Americans. There have been some big wins against Japanese players in the past, but now that competitiveness has fallen by the wayside, I can see Daigo beating the shit out of some really unenthusiastic gamers.

    • Regel

      this needs to be a front page article ^

    • Acku

      So, euh, it’s the spectators fault now? The popularity of the fighting game scene killed the American skill? wow.

      I would like to say: get your head straight and practice harder. Japanese win because their communities are tighter. Build better communities.

    • TheRetroKid

      That’s the dumbest thing I’ve read in a long time. No one’s bagging on the Americans as a whole…it’s the general mentality of entitlement. You’re blaming the forum talk for the lack of competitiveness because you think american players can’t take the criticism? You’re blaming the losses to the community “rejecting” the game? You’re blaming their bruised egos as the reason they’re not competing as hard as they should?

      Those are ignorant assumptions that I’m positive any self-respecting OG player would disagree with.

      First off, the streams and exposure that is given by the forums is one of the main reasons so many top players are getting signed and attaining a level of recognizeablity. Secondly, you mean folks like Yipes, Clockw0rk and Wong are rejecting this game? Because I not only see them competing, but giving interviews and participating in events that not only sell, but support MvC3. Finally, you don’t think the Japanese haven’t heard the “this is our game” talk? And yet they flew out to CEO and bodied a majority of the top players at “their game”. If that doesn’t deserve respect, then I don’t know what does.

      At the end of the day, participation counts for something, but just because you’ve been active for a decade, it doesnt mean you aren’t capable of spouting some ignorant shit.

      • SSJMochiballs

        So, you’re not really acknowledging what I’m saying, but if I may interrupt this argument you’re having with yourself…

        What I’m saying is that the majority of new blood isn’t competitive. They’re not trying to win, they talk more than they actually play and they read more than they probably talk. They have that scrubby mentality that SRK used to argue against about “honor” and “tier-whoring”. I’m saying that new American players aren’t succeeding because they don’t care so much about winning as they do about watching.

        Who said streams are bad? I’m just saying that scrubs have new life on streams because they can talk more there and there’s no quality control. I’m not saying it’s bad, but it’s producing worse players.

        Also, yes I think the Marvel community has rejected MVC3. We can debate this forever because it’s all a matter of degree, but I’m just saying ReveLAtions had like 160 people enter (according to the announcer I heard when I was there) and for a game that’s only a few months old, that’s pretty sad, particularly given the huge cash payout. I’m also saying that most Marvel players that ARE playing MVC3 are doing so out of obligation, because they made so many friends in the old community. I’m just speaking from what I’ve seen and heard and that’s all I’ve got. Sure there are some exemplars on your side you can point to, but the names that have gone missing from the Marvel days far outnumber those names you can name.

        How can you make the argument that the game isn’t rejected, then in the same sentence say that Americans should make a better community? If the game was well liked, it’d have a good community.

        “Those are ignorant assumptions that I’m positive any self-respecting OG player would disagree with.” Is this a joke? Am I missing out on your irony? Because unless I’m mistaken you’re calling out my “ignorant assumptions” with an ignorant assumption. Come on man, this is ridiculous, I can’t have a serious debate with someone I want to give a vocabulary lesson to.

        Also, I’d like an explanation of why you think my opinion is “ignorant shit”. Maybe you’d like to google what “ignorant” means so you don’t make it so glaringly obvious that you don’t know.

        Yes, the Japanese beat Americans at MVC3. It’s not that weird given what I said. We’re probably not that good at it on a global scale because we’re not that into it. We were really into Marvel and lo and behold we rocked at it. It’s not that complex.

        • TheRetroKid

          okay, before anything else, i want to say that my language and tone were harsh. i apologize. although i may not agree with your statements, there was def a better way to disagree instead of giving into emotion when writing my response.

          with that being said, the first problem i had with your response is that prevalent feeling of entitlement. i touched upon it in the sense that american players expect to be the best at a vs game right off the bat, just because of previous experience. in the same way, your constant reminiscing of how SRK “used to be”, how you’ve “in the scene for decades” and how “posters nowadays are scrubs who talk more than they do” all imply that just because you’ve been around longer, it means you automatically know better right off the bat. of course it’s going to rub people the wrong way…just like 3S players thumb their nose at the new pool of players who came in with SFIV. you act like you’re better just because you may have been around longer. this is the same thing that’s happening to the american players in the MvC3 scene…they act like the japanese are the 09ers of the vs series, and maybe they are, but it doesn’t mean you can discredit their accomplishments by saying things like “the top players weren’t trying” or “they’re more scared of how they’ll come off instead of winning”.

          you talk about streams not being bad, but at the same time say that it gives scrubs a voice…which effectively says you think they’re bad because they give bad players a voice. firstly, who says only scrubs watch streams? should no one comment or ask questions if they don’t know as much as you think they should? how is anyone going to get better if questions aren’t asked and mistakes aren’t corrected? you’re right, there are scrubs, and they do exist, but not every new player who watches streams are scrubs.

          so players feel “obligated” to play MvC3? as in, they feel they HAVE to travel to distant locations, pay an extrance fee and play the game? really? why, because their friends are going to be there? i don’t buy that. it cheapens the scene and whatever accomplishments those top players have garnered because you’re saying they begrudginly played, and weren’t even giving it their all. instead, why not acknowledge the time and effort they all put into the game? you think they got that good on a whim? no, those are hours in the lab, traveling to training sessions and money spent. of course there are a ton of players left by the wayside, that’s just time and life. it’s a poor argument to say that they stopped playing because of MvC3, because i’m pretty sure they stopped playing way before the game came out.

          “if a game was liked, it would have a good community”…third strike says hello. so does the darkstalkers franchise and alpha series. in addition, many people claim to hate SFIV but it’s been bigger than ever with the advent of…wait for it…the new players, streams and identifiable personalities that this new SRK has ushered in.

          in the end, you’re giving the american players way too many outs as to why they lost at a game they swore up and down was theirs. no japanese dickriding here…i just used my two eyes to watch it. live or via stream, it doesn’t make anyone’s perception any better. i saw tokido win, and america’s best lose.

          “we’re probably not that good at it on a global scale…”? what does that even mean? that america isn’t dominating the world at it because they don’t like it? is that really the argument you were going for? honestly, i’d like a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer for this.

          • SSJMochiballs

            If you want to interpret what I’m saying as me speaking from a position of authority then you can, but that’s not what I’m trying to do. I’m acknowledging that the scene has changed. I’m not saying it has to change back. I’m trying to explain the results.

            Why is the last thing I said weird? I’m suggesting maybe Americans aren’t dominant at the game because they don’t like the game. So what? Places with bigger scenes make better players. Japan doesn’t dominate Mortal Kombat because they don’t have a scene. Antarctica sucks at darkstalkers because there’s no scene. I’m not saying Americans SHOULD be tops at MVC3, I’m saying we’re not, and the reason we’re not is because there’s not the same competitive drive that we’ve had in the past for other games. I’m not going to give you a “yes” or “no”, because it’s not a yes or no question. That’s like me saying do you think Japanese players are better because they’re Asian? I NEED A YES OR A NO. Unfortunately this is a little more complex than a yes or no.

            Yes, I believe that there is a sense of obligation to play MVC3 for a lot of players out there. I’m not downplaying anybody’s accomplishments. I met some really cool people when I picked up SF, and a lot of them don’t really like SF4, but we still used to get together and try to play and even though we don’t like the game we still consider traveling to play tournaments 2 hours away from our university. It’s fun to hang out with friends where the only common denominator is street fighter. It’s unenthusiastic gaming, but when we all became friends because of competitive fighting games, it just makes sense that we’d try to play the newest and best thing out there. Now I’m the only one who plays SF4 and I think MVC3 is easy mode. You’ve got to think I got my start with A3, that means I liked a lot of games when they were new, it’s just that MVC3 is really bad, and SF4 is boring. The best players say they hate SF4, because they hate SF4. It’s just that easy. The only reason for a lot of these guys to hang around is because the scene was just that much fun.

            Scrubs having a voice isn’t bad. It just means a less talented pool of players. I think in my first response I said it wasn’t bad. It just means worse players. There was a time where everyone was a competitor, now there are people who are more or less, just spectators. It’s different. Not bad. Just different. Scrubs are necessary for the scene. Now there’s just a shift where there’s a lot more of them. I’m not saying that all new players are scrubs or that ALL new players anything. I’m saying that the attitude has shifted. There are some outliers like Wolfkrone, but given the influx of new players, the fact is that it’s been the same group of people dominating for years now. You might be picking up on an attitude that I think old players are better than new, but I don’t think that way. I’ve seen lots of players come up and realize that as a west coast player I got to see the rise of Justin Wong, and countless other new players. It’s just that fairly recently, the newer players don’t have the same competitive streak we’ve seen with older games. Fighting games are bringing out people who don’t actually play to be competitive.

            MVC3 already HAD a community built for it. That’s a big difference. It just failed to get the Marvel community to care about it. SF3 had a community of hardcore fans who used to meet and play. It’s different with an online community because these people have to meet up and play…I’m actually not sure where this is headed. Yes, SF3 is a well liked game that used to thrive when people played in arcades. It’s also a game that’s as old as MVC2. Darkstalkers may be even older.

            This argument is heading towards just being about MVC3, and that’s fine. I don’t
            think we are that far behind in SSF4. We’ve done fine in the past, not great, but not this badly.

            I’m not coming up with excuses for the American players. I’m coming up with explanations. I’m not saying “Americans lost because they weren’t trying” I’m saying they lost because the American scene isn’t as strong as a read through the forums would lead someone to believe. Yes, lots of words, but not a lot of players.

            If I had ANY excuse, it’d be that American players aren’t used to AE. I think that’s fair. A lot of Daigo’s wins were with Yun and the other Japanese players switched their characters to characters with buffs which probably required some adjusting.

            What are you suggesting? That the Japanese are just inherently better for some reason? Japan’s biggest advantage over the American scene has always been that Japan’s a smaller country with more competitive players. Smaller country means that when there was an arcade scene, top players could play each other more easily.

          • SSJMochiballs

            Actually I’ll throw out there that not “everybody” was a competitor per se, but there is definitely a shift from SF being a game made by players for players, towards being more of a show. We can see this in the fact that Justin got a “yellow card” for his using a garbage team at some tournament. There was a time that the top players were obviously letting each other win so they could split the pot at the end. If you wanted to change it, you had to get better than them, plain and simple. It sucked a lot for those of us who couldn’t beat Choi or Valle or any other top players. Reaallly sucked.

  • HASJ

    Daigo is smiling…

  • Son of a Gun

    One pic with three Japanese guys holding money from tournaments and you get a 300+ reactions full of emotional talk about lack of ‘dedication’, ‘motivation’ and ‘enthusiasm’ of players living in the country where the tournaments were held.

  • xRELLIKx

    Well, players not ‘playing to win’ is the catch 22 of how large the fgc is now. Same with simply video games in general. All the shovel ware, lame quick time events and dumbed down action games (I’m looking at you Ninja Gaiden -_-).

    I’ll be glad if we just get rid of the shovelware.

  • McNasty

    atleast we still got the nukes and big trucks and dicks.

  • McNasty

    mk9 the final frontier?

  • Legacy Virus

    Honestly, when I read about how “things were different back in the day”, you are correct! But we are not back in the day, we are in present time. Time has changed. Quit living in the past when you had to accept broken/unbalanced tactics. You had to deal with it so you want the newer players to deal with it. That logic is backwards. Remember there was a time before car’s existed as well. When we actually had to work our feet more. Remember when video games didnt exist yet? Yeah “back in those days” people actually went outside and did physical activity. We can play this “back in my day” game for the rest of the year.

    P.S. “back in my day we actually did more then play/worry about a video game”

  • Projectjustice

    Good for them, if all Americans would of won we would of done the same. Hell we celebrate every round we win vs a Japanese player lol.

  • ggmao

    hellyeaheasymoney! ;DDD

  • glenburg89

    Balrog (boxer): MY FIGHT MONEY!

  • The Electrifying One

    Would be more credible coming from someone recognised for being a top player not a top tournament organiser.

    Also viscant winning is fine, someone in their 30s stepped up their game again and is doing well. What’s the fascination with youth.

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